The Offal Card Is Useless

frostman on 29/06/2015 - 09:57

I know i'll be preaching to the choir, but the Offal Card has been nothing but trouble and a scam IMO.
It's a downright scam by the Government to rip the average Train/Bus and Ferry Commuter except for the very rare circumstance where this forms a saving.

  • It's costing more to travel to work 5-days / week from Sydney's West to Sydney CBD than it did buying a monthly, don't get me started on a quarterly.
  • It's costing me WAY more to go to meetings around CBD by catching inner CBD stops than it did with my monthly

Doing some Primary School maths, there is a very very minor percentage of people that may benefit from this stupid card.

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Opal Card - NSW Government
Opal Card - NSW Government

Comments

  • retiredfeline on 29/06/2015 - 10:04
    +3

    I think you have your metaphors mixed up, preaching to the choir means speaking to people who are already convinced of your argument. Anyway I'm not in the choir, I love the caps, both daily and weekly, so too bad for you.

    • SlickMick on 30/06/2015 - 10:50

      I'm sure there'd be plenty in this choir. I was just having a whine last week about our Brisbane system. Regular users used to be able to get a discount according to how much they'd pay in advance: weekly, monthly, yearly.
      Now the only people to get a benefit are those who scam the system. People are wasting their lunch hours taking short trips to make up the quota so rest of trips for week will be free.
      Really stupid system imo.

  • richox on 29/06/2015 - 10:14
    +1

    i actually thought it was called the offal card. whatever this thing is you guys are complaining about. but its called the opal card

  • djones145 on 29/06/2015 - 10:16
    +3

    if you catch a lunch time bus inner city, that's $2.1
    do that on mon and Tuesday and wednesday
    and by Wednesday afternoon you have free travel
    also instead of 6-7 bucks a trip for the train to the city, you will hit the cap each day and be slightly cheaper

    also you can recharge ur card at wollies, using amex (amex has had deals)
    then u can also use ur everyday rewards (which have deals as well)

    for me, with small business amex, amex deals and everyday rewards and the opal bus trips, my transport costs have halved easily

    initially, I hated the system, it felt more expensive than the old system
    however, with some easy workarounds, its a lot cheaper

    • twinbag on 29/06/2015 - 15:22

      This.

      Going to meetings around the CBD will actually save you money by reaching the cap earlier with cheaper fares.

  • bocca on 29/06/2015 - 10:42

    new system has higher price, with time it will go down.
    Now they have money to upgrade stations like Wynyard

  • cypher67 on 29/06/2015 - 12:23
    +4

    I didn't like the card at first either, but now I love it. You just need to understand how it works and how to best make it work for you. Randomly leaving the office and catching a quick bus will save you money because it counts towards your 8 trips for the week. Do this a few times on a Monday/Tuesday and you are ahead.
    I have taken it to the next level though, I have 2 Opal cards. I catch my train in on the Monday, $6.46 and put that card away for the rest of the week. With my second card I run between Pyrmont and the star (300m each way) until I have 7 trips up (25 times with the transfer cap) leaving me with 7 trips for $14.70. Then use that card to catch my train home, costs me 30 cents with the $15 daily limit and that card now has 8 trips. So for $21.46 a week I get unlimited travel. Sure its a bit more effort but saving $33 a week adds up & I get some exercise.

    • carwashhair on 29/06/2015 - 12:46

      Re: using a second card for just one trip a week - that is a simple and pretty clever way to further minimise your total expenditure. Well done!

  • frostman on 29/06/2015 - 14:00
    -7

    Looking at the results above, the fact that some had to alter their plans to cut costs from an already cheaper 1-source option goes to show the amount of "sheep" the government has in it's pen.

    I had an idiot at work tell me he catches the train to Erskinville (Sydney), gets off, runs to St Peters station which is close but just over 300m and taps on to manage his free travel earlier than Friday

    djone suggests catching impromptu bus rides at lunchtime throughout the CBD ($2, 1 stop bus routes) to get the free rides

    cypher67 suggests buying and fiddling with 2 Opal cards to manager a small saving too

    I doubt anyone else here did all that crap to save $5-$10.

    Back to my post/argument, unless you legitimately do 15+ train and bus trips across 5 days OR catch a series of Train/Bus/Ferry, then you are no better off with the Opal.

    BTW, hope you all love having your commutes tracked.

    • djones145 on 29/06/2015 - 15:24
      +1

      I use to catch the free bus to lunch
      now I catch the normal bus (and don't have to wait 10 minutes)

      therefore its a better alter

      also before I would have to sink 600-700 bucks to get yearly
      now I just top up at woolies with amex, get feul vouchers and extra discounts

      the running hacks are quite good, but does involve a bit of time and running

      using the lunch trip is just part of a normal day

      also if you purchased ur card from a retailer, u don't have to register ur travel

    • djones145 on 29/06/2015 - 15:27

      the savings is quite a lot more than 5-10 bucks
      I save around 15-20 bucks (but I live close)
      if you live out west, you can save around 40-50 bucks…. a week

    • carwashhair on 29/06/2015 - 15:36
      +1

      I just wonder why such bitterness at people who have been able to make opal work better for them than previous options allowed. You could make it work for you should you invest the time and energy. Clearly you think your energy is better used whining and sniping, because that's going to bring back the public transport paradise you once inhabited.

      There are many tips and tricks people share freely here and elsewhere - an open mind and just a little effort and you could benefit too. Or just keep whinging and paying more than before, your choice.

    • cypher67 on 29/06/2015 - 15:41
      +2

      I save $1700 a year by going for a jog once a week thanks to the Opal system. Please show me an easier way to save that amount of money? There has even been times when I have recharged my Opal card 20% off via Woolies deals etc. I used to buy Quarterly etc but every time I had a short notice holiday or extended leave/sick for any reason it screwed up the savings. Not to mention the time I lost my quarterly card and didn't have it registered. If there wasn't ways to abuse the system I would also shun the Opal, but I must admit I'm chuffed about cutting my travel expenses by over half legally.

    • enidan on 30/06/2015 - 10:25

      Have no idea what you're on about, so I'll just explain how much I pay.
      I have to catch a bus and train from the west to the city. Full price that would cost me $60/wk.
      By taking a quick bus trip during my lunch break on Monday and Tuesday, I only pay $45/wk. If I do the same thing on Wednesday, I get just under that. All I simply do is go out for a walk during my break, then take the bus back. No inconvenience at all. A weekly multi for zone 2 costs $56, $4 less than the opal cap. But 2 extra trips during the week and opal becomes cheaper than the multi.

      Can you tell us how much you're paying? It's a $15 daily cap, and attending meetings on Mondays and Tuesdays means free travel on Thursday and Friday, unless you've reached the cap by the time the next journey comes around.

  • DealzEddy123 on 29/06/2015 - 15:16

    yeh but it's investing in technology that ultimately reduces cost for them.

    so what if we don't see savings?

    also you can have an unregistered Opal if you don't want to be tracked

  • mskeggs on 29/06/2015 - 17:04
    +1

    The opal saves me $8 a week by doing nothing different. More if I have to travel around besides my usual commute.
    I will accept there are people who lost out because they no longer offer the quarterly/annual discounts.
    It surprises me the gov doesn't run a "10% extra on top-ups over $200" or similar to quiet these critics.

  • frostman on 29/06/2015 - 20:27
    -1

    Panning out, I personally couldn't see the hassle the government went through to upgrade the networks, ticket machines and barriers to save the commuter, or make their life easier. Sounds like a fable to me.
    No initiative i've seen out of a government overhaul was in the favour of the average law abiding citizen.

    So when I started seeing the banners arounds the stations ~18 months ago, something like this:

    Save money and Time with Opal!!

    I sensed some scam on it's way.

    Not refuting the claims that some of you claimed to have saved, but the vast majority just didn't and were sucked into it.
    If they really cared, leave both systems running, the paper tickets still work for Singles, how is it any diff if I purchase a weekly paper ticket?

    • cypher67 on 29/06/2015 - 21:11

      I'd love to hear from some of the "Vast majority" who agree with you, because no one has supported your views yet. This is an advancement as you can use multiple forms of travel on the one ticket, Previously I would get shafted between bus and train. Furthermore supporting 2 systems would just cost more money again, raising ticket prices. I think it is time to change your travel behaviours to start saving money like the rest of us ozbargainers are.

      • djones145 on 29/06/2015 - 22:10
        +1

        Think we are wasting our time giving advice

        System sucks, should have kept the old system, damn liberals trying to scam us,

        • Sweetnsour on 30/06/2015 - 13:15

          Bring back paper tickets! Bring back 40c payphones!

  • Brendoo on 30/06/2015 - 09:47

    My pre-Opal cost was over $50 per week. Switching to Opal and doing the exact same trips costs $26.96 or less for me. It's even cheaper if I jump on a bus for one or two stops for no reason on a busy street I am walking along anyway, that gets me to my 8 journeys cheaper by Tue or Wed max, then free for the rest of the week.

    Prices are very inconsistent though. I travel from Bondi Jn to Hornsby (about 32km) via train each day and it's only $3.37 one way total. If I go from Bondi Jn to Edgecliff (one stop, about 2km) it costs $2.36. Seems quite disproportionate, but I'm not complaining.

    • djones145 on 30/06/2015 - 10:10

      it might be because ur travelling outside of 7am - 9am or 9:30am (when u tap on) and 4pm - 6:30pm
      that's off peak, you get 30% off

  • garmibear on 30/06/2015 - 10:38
    +1

    I can see where you're coming from, cypher67 is doing a pretty good job, he does brings it down to the quarterly rate but he puts in the hard yards. The lightrail or Erskineville run definitely works quite well for some people depending on their location.

    I guess you just have to change your thinking and accept it. (I don't mean this in a "suck it up princess way", more that Opal is here to stay so just make the best of it). Opal was already up and runnnig when I started in the CBD so I don't have a comparison. Hopefully your meetings run just about an hour and you can at least get two journeys in. If the meetings are really costing you more than a normal weekly trip, then maybe your workplace should have an Opal card just for staff to go to meetings?

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